Rising Stars Shortlist Celebration 2017 | In words

WeAreTheCity hosted an evening of celebration for over 200 women who were shortlisted for the 2017 Rising Star Awards.

Held at Bloomberg, London, the event brought together those shortlisted across 22 categories, judges, previous winners and speakers including founder and director of Streets Consulting, Julie Streets and CEO of Company Shortcuts, Serial Entrepreneur and Investor, Lara Morgan.

Pamela Hutchinson, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Bloomberg welcomed the guests and said, “We are thrilled to be hosting the Rising Star shortlist event for the third year running.”

“We have been long talking about women on boards and don’t get me wrong, we need them – but if we don’t invest in you guys then we are never going to solve this problem.”

“My call to action for you is to be visible.”

“You are as much a part of our family as everyone else.”

A panellist of last year’s winners, including Hannah Cotton, Cheryl-Anne Sanderson, Lorraine Eyers, Claudine Adeyemi, Manisha Taylor, Lauren Garey and Elisha St Hilaire, were interviewed by Julia Streets and they spoke of winning the award, career advice and what had happened since.

When asked how the award had helped them, Eyers said, “The awards were the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“I came back with some fresh views and new opinions.”

Sanderson continued saying, “The awards give you the confidence to go out there.”

Cotton also spoke of the confidence that the awards had given her. She said, “When I won I had no idea of the scale and force that these awards have.”

“It wasn’t until I started attending Careers Club events that I realised I am a powerful human being.”

Moving on to career tips, Garey advised, “Really push yourselves to do something you’re not necessarily very good at.”

Cotton said, “No doors will open for you, you have to make it happen.”

“You’ve got 200 opportunities here tonight. As Vanessa said we are all a family.”

Inspired by the speakers, the audience were encouraged to network and make new connections.

Now in its third year, the Rising Star Awards are the first to focus on the UK’s female talent pipeline below management level. Through these awards, WeAreTheCity will celebrate 100 individual female contributors that represent the leaders and role models of tomorrow. The Rising Star Champions category also recognises the efforts of senior leaders, male and female, who are actively supporting the female pipeline outside of their corporate responsibilities.

This year, WeAreTheCity are also pleased to announce a new category to our awards, Company of the Year, which recognises the achievements of a company who can clearly demonstrate that they are actively supporting and developing their female talent pipeline through their initiatives, training, development programmes and/or internal employee relations groups.

For more information about the Rising Star Awards and to cast your vote, click here.

CLICK BELOW TO VOTE FOR YOUR RISING STAR

*The vote count is a factor in the judging, however the amount of votes does not necessarily determine the winners of each category. The winner of the public vote for each category will have an additional set of points added to their overall judges score.